Lt. Col. Fred Woodfin Wilmot

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Lt. Col. Fred Woodfin Wilmot, 83, Carrollton, Texas, formerly of Nevada, passed away on Monday, Sept. 15, 2008, at Medical City Dallas Hospital, Dallas, Texas. He was born Nov. 4, 1924, in Kansas City, Mo., the son of Fred Allen Wilmot and Roberta Ladine Walton Wilmot of Richards, Mo. He attended Richards High School and college at Wentworth Military Academy, Cornell University, University of Arkansas and West Point.

Col. Wilmot served in combat in World War II in Germany with the 407th Infantry Regiment, 102nd Infantry Division. He served in combat with the 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division during the Korean War, participating in the Incheon invasion and was a member of the only United States Army unit to reach the Yallou River on the Chinese border. Early in the Vietnam War, Col. Wilmot served as Psychological Operations Advisor to the South Vietnamese Minister of Defense and participated in Special Operations in support of the South Vietnamese government.

His military career of 22 years include many staff and command assignments in the U.S. and overseas. He retired from the Army in 1967 at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he was an instructor in the Army's Command and General Staff College. Col. Wilmot's military decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Bonze Star, three United States Army commendation medals and many service medals and decorations from foreign governments.

Upon retirement, Col. Wilmot returned to Nevada, and Vernon County where he managed the family farm and participated in civic and community betterment activity for the city of Nevada. During this period, as eirector of the Nevada Chamber of Commerce and President of the Nevada Industrial Development Corporation, he succeeded in attracting several major industries to the city. He was selected as the city of Nevada's Man of the Year in 1969 and received the Governor of Missouri's Leadership Award in 1971.

In 1974, Col. Wilmot accepted a position with Farm & Home Savings Association. Upon his retirement in 1989, he was senior vice president and Regional Manager for the Dallas-Fort Worth region of Farm & Home.